2023 Draft Watch

[Mofra]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Ben Waterworth of Foxsports has linked us to Calsher Dear (Hawks F/S) and Will Lorenz.

I liked what I saw of Calsher on a smallish computer screen with a scratchy feed. One of the "why aren't more recruiters talking about him" kind of players.

[Axe Man]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Ben Waterworth of Foxsports has linked us to Calsher Dear (Hawks F/S) and Will Lorenz.

I assume there is no chance we end up with Dear, surely the Hawks will match?

Also, why would we want another tall forward?

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Ben Waterworth of Foxsports has linked us to Calsher Dear (Hawks F/S) and Will Lorenz.

That's a definite no from me on Dear.

After all his dad did break Peter Foster's leg.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Ben Waterworth of Foxsports has linked us to Calsher Dear (Hawks F/S) and Will Lorenz.

I'm hoping Dear gets to the Hawks given what happened to his father. Good player with plenty of upside though.

[ledge]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

I'm hoping Dear gets to the Hawks given what happened to his father. Good player with plenty of upside though.

Actually think it was a given, I mean seriously what club was game enough to take him and look like a real arse .
It was probably an unwritten rule for other clubs to not take him so the hawks could.
Sometimes you have to have morals.

[GVGjr]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Well a difficult periods well navigated by our recruiting and list management team

Western Bulldogs

Pick 6
RYLEY SANDERS 186cm, 86kg, Mid, Sandringham Dragons, Junior club: North Launceston

Pick 15
JORDAN CROFT 201cm, 81kg, Fwd, Calder Cannons, Junior club: Maribyrnong Park

Pick 45
JOEL FREIJAH 191cm, 88kg, Wing, GWV Rebels, Junior, club: Horsham Saints

Pick 47
LACHLAN SMITH 203cm, 101kg, Ruck, Gippsland Power, Junior club: Bunyip

Pick 55
AIDEN O’DRISCOLL 176cm, 70kg, Wing, Perth, Junior club: Northam Saints

BARNES’ VERDICT: Two ticks on night one for the Dogs with ball-magnet Sanders and father-son Croft. Freijah is a good fit as a strong runner, while Smith will be given time to develop as a back-up ruck. The Bulldogs list looks even stronger than it did at the start of the week.

[Bornadog]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Well a difficult periods well navigated by our recruiting and list management team

Western Bulldogs

Pick 6
RYLEY SANDERS 186cm, 86kg, Mid, Sandringham Dragons, Junior club: North Launceston

Pick 15
JORDAN CROFT 201cm, 81kg, Fwd, Calder Cannons, Junior club: Maribyrnong Park

Pick 45
JOEL FREIJAH 191cm, 88kg, Wing, GWV Rebels, Junior, club: Horsham Saints

Pick 47
LACHLAN SMITH 203cm, 101kg, Ruck, Gippsland Power, Junior club: Bunyip

Pick 55
AIDEN O?DRISCOLL 176cm, 70kg, Wing, Perth, Junior club: Northam Saints

BARNES? VERDICT: Two ticks on night one for the Dogs with ball-magnet Sanders and father-son Croft. Freijah is a good fit as a strong runner, while Smith will be given time to develop as a back-up ruck. The Bulldogs list looks even stronger than it did at the start of the week.

With the trade ins, that's 7 new players for 2024, with maybe a rookie to come.

[kruder]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Well a difficult periods well navigated by our recruiting and list management team

Western Bulldogs

Pick 6
RYLEY SANDERS 186cm, 86kg, Mid, Sandringham Dragons, Junior club: North Launceston

Pick 15
JORDAN CROFT 201cm, 81kg, Fwd, Calder Cannons, Junior club: Maribyrnong Park

Pick 45
JOEL FREIJAH 191cm, 88kg, Wing, GWV Rebels, Junior, club: Horsham Saints

Pick 47
LACHLAN SMITH 203cm, 101kg, Ruck, Gippsland Power, Junior club: Bunyip

Pick 55
AIDEN O?DRISCOLL 176cm, 70kg, Wing, Perth, Junior club: Northam Saints

BARNES? VERDICT: Two ticks on night one for the Dogs with ball-magnet Sanders and father-son Croft. Freijah is a good fit as a strong runner, while Smith will be given time to develop as a back-up ruck. The Bulldogs list looks even stronger than it did at the start of the week.

Just great to have some young developing players on the list with clear AFL attributes again. If we add them to Gallagher, Busslinger and Clarke our VFL team will be an interesting watch indeed next year.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Just great to have some young developing players on the list with clear AFL attributes again. If we add them to Gallagher, Busslinger and Clarke our VFL team will be an interesting watch indeed next year.

Bang on. 5 excited kids this year, a bunch of new coaches and specialists. Bevo smiling on the TV again. Hopefully it’s the start of turning around whatever the issues were late last year. If we can build some excitement with some debuts, maybe a rising star nomination for Sanders, get the big name re-signings throughout the year - then hopefully we can keep the positive momentum from week to week and buzz around the club. From this year the players just needed to be 5-10% better to win a lot more games. Fitness and a positive exciting place to be can hopefully do that. Along with some kids nailing down some spots and selection and a game plan that suits us.

[ledge]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Bang on. 5 excited kids this year, a bunch of new coaches and specialists. Bevo smiling on the TV again. Hopefully it’s the start of turning around whatever the issues were late last year. If we can build some excitement with some debuts, maybe a rising star nomination for Sanders, get the big name re-signings throughout the year - then hopefully we can keep the positive momentum from week to week and buzz around the club. From this year the players just needed to be 5-10% better to win a lot more games. Fitness and a positive exciting place to be can hopefully do that. Along with some kids nailing down some spots and selection and a game plan that suits us.

And back home with better facillities.

[hujsh]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

I love the footage of the recruiters talking about what they like about our draft picks but I'd also really love something like this where we talk about where we see our players in the 'talent order' or if we're going for a specific set of needs vs picking the best players in general

https://twitter.com/GWSGIANTS/status/1727612602761761177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1727612602761761177%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=

[MrMahatma]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

I love the footage of the recruiters talking about what they like about our draft picks but I'd also really love something like this where we talk about where we see our players in the 'talent order' or if we're going for a specific set of needs vs picking the best players in general

https://twitter.com/GWSGIANTS/status...1_c10&ref_url=

Thanks for sharing that. It's really interesting!!

[jazzadogs]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

I love the footage of the recruiters talking about what they like about our draft picks but I'd also really love something like this where we talk about where we see our players in the 'talent order' or if we're going for a specific set of needs vs picking the best players in general

https://twitter.com/GWSGIANTS/status...1_c10&ref_url=

It's good content. Caruso used to work at the Dogs...there's quite a trail of Bulldogs recruiting people through the industry. Dalrymple, Austin, Caruso...is Scott Clayton still kicking around?

[azabob]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

It's good content. Caruso used to work at the Dogs...there's quite a trail of Bulldogs recruiting people through the industry. Dalrymple, Austin, Caruso...is Scott Clayton still kicking around?

Yep. At north.
Dom Ambrogio is list manager at the lions also ex Dogs.

Jason McCartney from a list management perspective is another one, though not sure we’d claim him.

[hujsh]

Re: 2023 Draft Watch

Interviews with all the draftees after the session today

https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/video/1470114/2023-afl-draft-class-day-1-press-conference?videoId=1470114&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1701060589001

Also maybe people are interested or maybe not but a BF poster from another club claiming to work in recruitment in clubland had this to say on Freijah:

Joel Freijah was my favourite player in this draft - I had him in the top 20 and I see him as close to the prefect modern day winger.

I think he was the best value for money pick in the draft - I'll be watching with interest and hope he kills it.

On why he was passed on/slid:

5 things come to mind:

1. Speed: 3.050 20m at the combine, which isn't too bad, but potentially not quick enough for some
2. Agility: 8.729 agility test at the combine. Probably his weakest athletic trait
3. Sub-par champs: Averaged 12.3 touches, 2.8 marks and 1.8 tackles at the U18 Champs vs. 19.6 touches, 4.1 marks and 2.5 tackles at Coates level. So there's a perceived issue with his ability to play well in big games.
4. Perceived lack of ceiling due to already being a good size at 190.3cm, 87.6kg
5. Inconsistency from game to game at Coates league level, tapering off in the second half of the season: He had some real boom games this year (26 touches 6 goal game, 29 touches 10 score involvements, 21 and 2 goals) but then also some real poor ones, particularly towards the back end of the year (12, 17, 18 and 9 touch games to finish the season).

When asked for thoughts on the rest of the draft class:

Sanders - Best pure footballer in the draft; best footy IQ and foot-skills. Rarely makes a poor decision and works hard getting from contest to contest as well as impacting on the spread. Needs to be played in the midfield, but I'm not sure when that happens for him considering how many guys you have running through there.

Croft - Firstly, his ball drop is quite awkward and leads him to fluffing some kicks - needs to work on developing a ball drop that will help him develop some consistency by foot. I personally think his career will be best served as a key defender, but he could get it done as a forward too. Reads the flight of the ball and picks the drop-zone really well, but I think he lacks some tricks in the forward line which is why he's stalled this year. Despite having a really good tank, he struggled this year to impact as he only found it 10 times a game on average.

Smith - Best performed ruck at Coates level for sure and as silly as it sounds, he's going to be an undersized ruck at AFL level. The reason guys like Green, Goad and Edwards went ahead of him is because they're taller and better at the tap ruck aspect. Smith will be a hustle and bustle, aggressive ruck, whereas the blokes who went ahead of him have much better ruck craft and will be good tap ruckmen. The numbers for comparison:
Smith - 202cm, 72cm vertical
Green - 204cm, 87cm vertical + easily longest arms in draft at 95.6cm (next best was 93.7cm)
Goad - 206cm, 85cm vertical
Edwards - 206cm, 94cm vertical

O'Driscoll - I see him as a very Western Bulldogs type pick. That half forward who will work hard up and the ground and back, but isn't a traditional crumber who will kick bags of goals for you. He's very athletic and will break the lines with his pace in space. Well worth a late selection to see whether he can make it.

And lastly Lual:

I've never seen it with Lual. Not really quick or agile, on the shorter side which limits his defensive flexibility from a role point of view. Not a particularly good kick and had a pretty poor season overall.

He could improve substantially but he's certainly not one I'd be upset over missing out on. I never understood how anyone could justify labelling him a top 30 prospect.